Hello everyone,
The temperature was above freezing and there was little wind but it felt very cold anyway. Winter is back, but hopefully not for long.
Our best sighting of the day was of a beautiful Greater White-fronted Goose paddling around in the west lagoon. They are a rare visitor to our park. A flock of 50 white fronted geese flew over us a bit later, so apparently these geese are now on the move.
Sandra spotted a raccoon hanging out in the crook of a tree in which we’ve never seen one before. Now we’ll have to check every week. The other regular raccoon tree cavities were occupied too, which made it a four-raccoon day. A Downy Woodpecker was drumming very loudly on a tree by the Columbia basin. It’s remarkable that such a small bird can make that much noise.
We had several swans fly over. One flock was comprised of Mute Swans and the other was either Trumpeter or Tundra – we couldn’t make a firm ID on this group because they were too far away. A gorgeous Coopers Hawk was perched on the old bur oak tree in the middle of the island.
Red-breasted Mergansers are still here, along with Northern Shovelers, Mallards, one Pied-billed Grebe and a single Common Goldeneye. Two Wood Ducks were also spotted.
BIRDERS: Val, Marian, Mark M., Kristin, Mark W., Luther, Mark C., Cheryl, Suzanne, Mark N., Sandra, Caterina, Mike, Marisa, Jeffrey, Leslie, Madhu, Lucy, Katie, Nolan, Xiaoyao, Sofia, Jane, Jennie, Sarah, Amir, Adam, Doyin and welcome to Chelsea and Eric B.
TIME: 8:00am to 11:15am
WEATHER: 35 degrees, cloudy
Compiler: Cheryl
Greater White-fronted Goose Number observed: 51
Canada Goose Number observed: 152
Mute Swan Number observed: 6
Trumpeter/Tundra Swan Number observed: 10
Wood Duck Number observed: 2
Blue-winged Teal Number observed: 1
Northern Shoveler Number observed: 5
Mallard Number observed: 10
Common Goldeneye Number observed: 1
Red-breasted Merganser Number observed: 45
Mourning Dove Number observed: 1
Killdeer Number observed: 1
Ring-billed Gull Number observed: 7
American Herring Gull Number observed: 5
Pied-billed Grebe Number observed: 1
Double-crested Cormorant Number observed: 1
Cooper's Hawk Number observed: 1
Downy Woodpecker Number observed: 3
Northern Flicker Number observed: 1
American Kestrel Number observed: 1
Eastern Phoebe Number observed: 2
American Crow Number observed: 3
Black-capped Chickadee Number observed: 10
White-breasted Nuthatch Number observed: 2
Brown Creeper Number observed: 1
European Starling Number observed: 19
American Robin Number observed: 17
House Sparrow Number observed: 3
House Finch Number observed: 3
Field Sparrow Number observed: 1
Fox Sparrow Number observed: 3
Dark-eyed Junco Number observed: 1
White-throated Sparrow Number observed: 2
Song Sparrow Number observed: 16
Red-winged Blackbird Number observed: 49
Brown-headed Cowbird Number observed: 5
Common Grackle Number observed: 8
Northern Cardinal Number observed: 11
If you’d like more information about a bird, check out the All About Birds ID guide:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/
Corrections, additions, and comments are welcome.
Good birding everyone,
Jennie
Photo: American goldfinch by Will Stuart